Shia LaBeouf, better known as ‘Louis Stevens’ in the popular Disney Channel series, ‘Even Stevens’, is one of the most charming American actors in Hollywood. A favorite among women, this young actor, with his elegant good-looks and his boy-next-door charm was cast in the lead role in the hit ‘Transformers’ franchise and was also seen in arthouse films like ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and ‘The Company You Keep’ to name a few. His acting career took-off with the ‘Disney Channel’, where he portrayed a popular character in ‘Even Stevens’, which was a primetime show. Thereafter, he was barraged with offers and made his career breakthrough with some serious, commercial hits like ‘Disturbia’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. Apart from acting, LaBeouf is also one of the youngest directors in Hollywood. He made his directorial debut with a short-film titled, ‘Let’s Love Hate’. Since then, he has directed the television shows, ‘Maniac’ and ‘Born Villain’.

Shia Saide LaBeouf was born on June 11, 1986 to ‘hippie’ parents, Shayna and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, in Los Angeles, California. He is of Franco-American descent and is part Jewish, for which he had a customary Bar Mitzvah and he was also baptized in the Angelus Church.

His parents split due to financial issues when he was a young boy so he was raised with moderate means.

He studied at Alexander Hamilton High School and the 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet, with his education largely supported and backed by his tutors themselves.

As he tried to cope with his parents’ divorce, he would practice comedy to ‘escape’ from his problems. Thus, he began performing in a number of comedy clubs. In 1998, he landed the role of ‘Cal’ in the movie, ‘The Christmas Path’.

In 1998, he also appeared in one episode of the television series, ‘Caroline in the City’ and appeared in the TV film, ‘Breakfast with Einstein’, where he was cast as ‘Joey’.

Through 1999, he was soon beginning to be noticed and he was seen in a number of casual episodes of television series’ like, ‘Jesse’, ‘Suddenly Susan, ‘Touched by an Angel’ and ‘The X-Files’.

He earned his first big breakthrough in television as ‘Louis Anthony Stevens’ in ‘Even Stevens’, a Disney Channel show, which catapulted him to instant stardom, in 2000. This was also his first major role as an actor.

He soon attracted the attention of a number of producers and directors and bagged roles in more television series including, ‘The Nightmare Room’ and the TV film, ‘Hounded’, in 2001.

As of 2003, he finished working for ‘Even Stevens’, which was his longest role at the time. He was soon cast in the films, ‘The Battle of Shaker Heights’, ‘Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle’, ‘Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry met Lloyd’ and ‘Holes’.

In 2003, he was also seen in the TV film adaptation of the hit television series ‘Evan Stevens’ titled, ‘The Even Stevens Movie’.

In 2005, he was cast along with Keanu Reeves in the commercial hit, ‘Constantine’, for which he played the role of Chas Kramer. He also starred in the films, ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ and ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’, the same year.

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From 2006 to 2008, he appeared lesser on television and was cast in the movies, ‘Bobby’, ‘A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’, ‘Disturbia’, ‘Surf’s Up’, ‘Transformers’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. In 2008, he also appeared in an episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’.

In 2009, he appeared as ‘Sam Witwicky’ once again in the sequel of ‘Transformers’ titled, ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’. The franchise made him a superstar overnight. The same year, he also starred in the ensemble film ‘New York, I Love You’ opposite actors like Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, Irrfan Khan and Natalie Portman to name a few.

He was cast as ‘Jacob Moore’ in the film, ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ in 2010. The next year, he was seen in the third instalment of the ‘Transformers’ franchise, ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’.

In 2011, he also directed two television shorts’, ‘Maniac’ and ‘Born Villain’. In the next two years, he appeared in the movies, ‘Lawless’, ‘The Company You Keep’ and ‘Charlie Countrymen’.

He also appeared in ‘Nymphomaniac’ (2013) and ‘Fury’ (2014). In ‘Fury’, he co-starred with Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman.

From 2000 to 2003, he was cast as ‘Louis Stevens’ in the comedy series, ‘Even Stevens’. This television series launched LaBeouf into the world of acting and showcased his breakout career as a professional actor. The television series became extremely popular and as a recurring character, he was even cast in the film adaptation of the same titled, ‘The Even Stevens Movie’. The show went on to earn a number of awards including the ‘Daytime Emmy Awards’, ‘BAFTA Awards’ and ‘Young Artist Awards’.

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LaBeouf was cast as the protagonist, ‘Sam Witwicky’ in the ‘Transformers’ franchise, in which he starred from 2007 to 2011. He was, however, replaced by Mark Wahlberg in the fourth instalment of the film. All three films became sleeper-hits at the box-office and went on earn over $1 billion at the box-office. His role as ‘Sam’ is considered one of the highlights of his career.

Shia LaBeouf has been in a number of relationships with his co-stars including, China Brezner, Carey Mulligan, whom he was the closest to, Isabel Lucas and actress, Megan Fox.

In 2005, he was arrested in Los Angeles after an altercation with his neighbor, whom he threatened with a kitchen knife. He was then arrested two years later after he refused to leave a Chicago ‘Walgreens’ after a security guard asked him to do so.

An arrest warrant was issued against him after he failed to make a court appearance. The charge was dismissed later and he ended up paying a $500 fine.

In 2008, he was involved in a car crash after he drove under the influence of alcohol. His driver’s license was suspended for a year and following the accident, he had to go through a number of surgeries for the hand.

In 2011, he was once again involved in an altercation with a commoner at a bar in Los Angeles, for which he was questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department.